共有魂
by MiniMcGiggles
Summary: The snow bubbled as a river of blood poured from where his leg was supposed to be. Beside him, Natsu laid lifeless, chest cold and unmoving. However, Gray wasn't done yet, he had to fix this – he needed to fix this, even if that meant giving up his soul.
1. It Happened Like This

**Summary:** The snow bubbled as a river of blood poured from where his leg was supposed to be. Beside him, Natsu laid lifeless, chest cold and unmoving. But Gray wasn't done yet, he had to fix this – he needed to fix this, even if that meant giving up his soul.

 **Word Count** : 2263

 **Warning** : Cussing, graphic images, main character death and spelling or grammar errors if I did not catch them.

 **Disclaimer:** I own no one, 'cept this new macho man Daizo

 **A/N:** This will be set in a sort of authors' universe because it does expand over a long period of time. I don't plan on going way off course with this "universe" because I don't like writing those. So just expect power levels to be different and things of that sort. Also, this is chapter is set before Lucy joins the guild and then continues 6 years later. If I understand correctly, 6 years later will be before the Grand Magic Games, which I really want to focus on. Anyway, please let me know if I have some information wrong down the road by PMing me _. Furthermore_ , I have never had a traumatic experience like losing a limb and apologize if I did not portray it correctly.

 **So thank you and enjoy!**

* * *

6 Years Ago

* * *

Gray woke up to unnatural warmth radiating from his left leg. He blinked, watching as muck cleared from his vision, only then to be replaced by a raging winter storm. He swallowed; mouth parched and looked around. Not matter how much he tried; he couldn't bring up any memory that explained where he was. Looking around, Gray found that he could only see past a certain point before the blizzard snagged it from view. He gripped the snow beneath his fingers, feeling as the ice crystals melted in against his palms and found that he was shirtless. The oddest thing about his predicament was that he was shivering from the cold. The snow passed between his fingers as he attempted to sit up.

A shout came from in front of him, making Gray look up. He saw past the sideways blowing snow, a small flame burst before the ground shook. Another scream occurred then the flame disappeared and a laugh filled the storm.

Gray pushed himself up, his arms shaking and his eyes widened. He remembered why he was up here, "Natsu!" He yelled but was suddenly stopped when his attempts to stand was blocked. Gray looked down, and his stomach churned at what he saw. The snow bubbled as a river of blood poured from where his leg was supposed to be. The limb was cut at his knee, skin hanging off, blood froze around the wound and coating the red snow. "No," Gray slurred and pain raced up his spine. His leg began to pound as he panted uncontrollably. He found himself in shock more than in pain. Nonetheless, he still freaked out. His arms shook and his gasps increased. "Shit!" He screamed out, fingers digging into the snow and fear washing over him. He was freaking out and panicking hysterically.

A gust of air ruffled his hair and then a form flew past him. Gray looked up, his eyes wide as a shape emerged from the wall that the blizzard created. A shape about six feet tall walked steadily forward, its hands cupped behind its back as a man stepped forward. He looked no older than 25, dressed in a navy and gold tunic, his head shaved down, but his long beard once brown now snow speckled on top of the hair. "Hmm," the man called above the raging storm, "You're finally awake."

From behind Gray, fire burst to life and Natsu emerged. "Natsu," Gray called, his voice shaking as he gazed backward and found that Natsu looked almost lifeless.

"I'm sure you would have died from blood loss by now," The mysterious man brought his hand forward and light burned away the snow. "I'm sure you'll sleep well."

"Bastard," Gray growled. His arm shaking as he reached backward and touched his left thigh, covering his fingertips in blood.

Natsu stumbled forward, his eyes lit with rage but his form sagging from exhaustion. The idiot looked terrible, his clothes were torn, blood dripped down his face from multiple cuts and bruises were already blowing up upon his skin. "Get away from him, Daizo," Natsu snapped, his flames dancing in the storm. "Or I'm going to kill you!"

"Same insults, young man." The man laughed, his hand retreating away from Gray as he shrugged. "When will you ever think, it's not my fault his leg is gone."

Natsu growled, his flames growing brighter as he shook with rage. He jumped forward, but Daizo had snapped to the left making Natsu miss his target and chaotically roll away. The man looked back towards Gray, his beard blowing slightly in the raging storm and his eyes flashed. "Do you think Fairy Tail will try to find me once both of you are dead?" He smiled down at Gray, watching as the Ice Mage shook with shock and blood loss – his face pale against the white snow. "I would love to go against a Guild." Gray pushed his right fingers into the snow, and sharp ice shot up from the ground, but nowhere near Daizo. The man looked towards the ice then back to Gray, frowning. He shook his head as Gray blinked, his vision unfocused and eyelids dropping with exhaustion. Gray felt his left fingers twitch over the stump that drenched the snow with red. He swallowed, his body trembled and black dots formed over his sleep filled vision. From behind another scream exploded and Gray watched as Daizo was caught off guard with Natsu tackling him to the ground and the two rolled away, the blizzard blowing away their form.

Gray paused, his breath hiccupping as he quickly averted his gaze away from where Natsu had disappeared. He pulled his right hand from underneath his chest and with his left hand he dug his fingertips into the bleeding muscle. Ice quickly raced across the damaged muscle and skin, rushing to cover the bone and clogging the opened blood vessels. Gray sucked in a breath and held it as pain thumped its way up his leg. He tried to ignore the pain as his stomach tossed; he was doing a pretty good job until he heard Natsu scream out in pain. Gray looked up, his effort to cast some sort of ice leg was quickly discontinued. "Shit," Gray growled, he knew he had to hurry and help Natsu. Gray shoved past the pain and darkness that hovered over him and pushed himself up. His limbs were shaking as he stood, then agony flew up his spine as he placed pressure on his left ice covered leg. He shrieked, his throat tightening as he tumbled to the floor. Past the sideways blowing storm, Gray caught the glimpse of a light then an explosion shook the ground, forcing the storm to jump away from the flare-up. He crossed his hands in front of his eyes as the storm picked up, changing direction. He came to his hands and knees again, limbs shaking as he pushed himself further and stood again. "Fuck," he cursed wildly as he stumbled to the side feeling the leg crack underneath his weight. He felt the ice peg blow away but quickly formed ice around his hands, helping him stay standing. "Damn it," he cried as his only leg trembled like an earthquake. He needed to get forward, help Natsu – stop the bastard from pushing himself too far. He hopped forward, cursing as his vision blackened then stuttered back to life. Suddenly the ground beneath him shook and he fell forward, tumbling headfirst moving down a hill he hadn't seen or still couldn't see. He came to a halt; head crashing against the stiff snow bank and left leg shouting at his luck. Gray moaned in pain as he rolled to his side, eyes closing as his head pounded in pain. "Natsu!" He cried, but his voice was carried away with the snow. He looked around and all he could see was white. He clenched his hands, feeling fear rise along with anger. "Damn it," Gray snapped to himself. "Get it together, Gray." He looked around, once more and from his right he felt a gust of warm air ruffle his hair. Gray quickly turned his eyes widening as the large man stepped forward his face twisted in glee.

"You know, Gray," Daizo laughed, "he lasted a lot longer than you did." From behind, the large man drew back and then threw something forward, watching as the shape connected against Gray's chest. Gray gasped in pain as the weight pushed against his bruised ribs and his eyes widened in shock and agony. The man turned to leave, his eyes sparkling with glee and strolled off. Upon his chest, the weight jolted with a wet cough. Gray looked up, watching as Natsu pushed himself off of Gray, blood leaking from his mouth as the Dragon Slayer spit globs of blood into the snow, watching as it bubbled, sinking into the white bank. Natsu, from his hands and knees, pushed upwards, swaying to his feet, hands hanging loosely at his side. Behind the blood, cuts, bruises and torn up physique, Natsu's eyes still sparked with emotion. Gray gasped, his chest pounding along with his head. He looked at Natsu, stretching out his right hand towards the Fire Mage and tried to shout at him to stop whatever he was thinking. However, his voice failed him, stumbling between waves of agony and the sudden need to sleep.

"Hey," Natsu shouted and Daizo stopped, his form of blue and gold almost fazing out from sight. Natsu stepped forward, "We're going to come back for you."

Daizo's form turned, most of his features unnoticeable but a toothy grin. The man didn't take a step forward, but the seconds ticked by as Gray felt his head fall back into the snow, eyes drifting downwards. Then the man chuckled, past the raging snow and loud gusts of wind, his laughter surrounded them with dread. "If you two survive, I will gladly take you on again." He then turned, but as he drifted away from view his voice carried along with another snicker, "Oh and tell, mother to next time send better assassins." With that, the man disappeared into the wall of snow.

Gray felt his breath stick against his throat as he looked towards Natsu. The Fire Dragon Slayer stumbled on his feet as he tried standing still, his hands hanging on his sides and he turned towards Gray. Natsu took a step forward, his feet choking and he stumbled forward. The Ice Mage blinked as the world fell under a dark cover. The storm seemed to cease but hands shook his shoulders and the storm picked back up. Gray found himself blinking back clouds of muck as he watched Natsu crouch over him, his blood leaking from cuts onto Gray's face. "Gray," he snapped. "Gray c'mon, get up."

"Natsu?" Gray mumbled, his lips heavy and eyes squinting against the bright snow.

The Fire Mage's breath stuttered as he pulled Gray up and with a quick heave, Gray found himself draped across Natsu's shoulders.

"We've gotta get you to the old ladies house," Natsu mumbled, his steps slow and heavy against the snow.

The next few minutes were slow, with a dull aching thump washing over Gray with each step Natsu took. Gray felt his head rise slightly as the two came to an incline, his head stuttering to life as he remembered that an injured, power exhausted Natsu was carrying him, one limb missing, up a snow covered hill. Gray pulled against Natsu suddenly, his eyebrows dropping and left leg pounding at the movement. "Natsu," he pushed against the Dragon Slayer again. "Natsu s-stop." Gray felt Natsu stumble backward, the two almost tumbling to the ground.

"Gray," Natsu snarled, "you're being more of an ass than usual, stop."

The Ice Mage ignored the insult and tapped his head sluggishly against Natsu's shoulder, "You – you need to rest."

Natsu scoffed, but it came out winded and pained. "You're the one missing a limb. If we don't get you medical attention, you're going to bleed out." Natsu shifted Gray's weight before taking a step forward, but his vision blacked out and they tipped backward.

.Gray felt himself fall back further, Natsu seemed to reach back with a shout as the two rolled downward. Gray felt his body crack against the ground, head snapping back and the crash pushing out a pained shout. Natsu fell back, head falling first and body crumbling over his neck as he rolled backward. Gray bounced against the ground and one strike against his ice covered leg sent him into a spell of dizzying pain.

He blinked, chest thumping in pain and limbs shaking from exhaustion. Suddenly, as he realized he couldn't take in a deep gulp of hair, he looked down to find Natsu still upon his chest. Quickly, Gray wasn't concerned about their mission that they had obviously failed; he was too alarmed about the pink haired man who wasn't breathing that laid upon his chest.

Gray sat up, his mind going into overdrive as he pushed Natsu off of his chest and onto the ground. He reached forward, his mind forcing pain and fear to the backburner, as his blood covered fingertips pushed into Natsu's neck. His fingers trembled as he noticed Natsu hadn't even twitched from the odd contact. Something was wrong, God something was very, very wrong. Gray couldn't feel anything as he pushed harder under Natsu's chin, trying to feel for a pulse. He trembled, his eyes glancing over the Fire Mage. Gray quickly abandoned the thought that Natsu wasn't alive, because this was his damn rival. He quickly placed his ear against the Dragon Slayers chest and closed his eyes. "C'mon," Gray mumbled. Natsu's chest was freezing cold, "C'mon – c'mon – c'mon!" The storm around them picked up, riffling both mages hair, but only one shivered in response. Gray sat up, his limbs shaking from the cold and his chest started to burn. "Damn it, shit for brains!" Gray swallowed, his hands shaking as he positioned himself above Natsu's chest and pushed downwards in one quick movement. "She won't let us go out on our own again," Gray pushed down further before looking towards Natsu's face. It hadn't moved, haven't twitched. "Fucking dumbass!" Gray quickly began CPR, pushing air into Natsu's lungs, hoping for some type of change. "Wake up, wake up, wake up," he shouted again, his eyes stung slightly against the raging storm.

"Natsu!"

* * *

 **A/N:** All right! New chapter story and if everything lines up correctly it should be around 15 chapters, maybe longer. Thank you for reading and I hope you have a great day!

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	2. I'll Do Anything

**Summary:** The snow bubbled as a river of blood poured from where his leg was supposed to be. Beside him, Natsu laid lifeless, chest cold and unmoving. However, Gray wasn't done yet, he had to fix this – he needed to fix this, even if that meant giving up his soul.

 **Word Count:** 1151

 **Warning:** Cussing, short chapter, and slight OOC because of slight AU, also grammar and spelling errors if I did not catch them

 **Disclaimer:** I don't own anyone

 **A/N:** A little OOC from what I can tell because Natsu does care for Gray a lot more because of what happened in the last chapter. Hopefully not too off character but just enough to understand why they're acting this way. Also, I just had a power outage and I was suddenly in the mood to write – sadly the power came back on about an hour later and the mood switched off…so I only wrote this much. I'm very proud of what has been written and hopefully, you enjoy it as much as I did!

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Gray's eyes shot open. He looked side to side as a cold sweat slowly dripped down his forehead. His breath erratic but mind focusing on the present. "The here and now," he repeated to himself. He needed to focus; he needed to remember that what happened had happened, but wasn't _happening_. He forced himself to sit up, head leaning over his scattered sheets as he tried to focus – tried to remember. Sweat dripped off his nose and he watched the patch of water spread out slightly on his white sheets. "You're fine," he said brokenly, "Everything is fine – you're here." He ran a hand through his hair. He looked up, trying to find a certain object in his room that would signify that he was in his apartment – living, breathing, awake. "Calm down," he stuttered. He found the object and focused on it. Found the sheet of paper, reading through the first line, once, twice, and a third time before looking at the picture. "Here," he rubbed his face; letting his hands pull his sweat pooled face downward. "Here and now. You're here – you're fine."

* * *

He walked to the Guild, pants buckled but hanging around his waist a little sloppier than normal. Today of all days his leg had to flare up in pain. He cursed himself of the dumb luck, of course, it was karma, what else would it be?

The jacket that was white as snow was now tossed over his shoulder and his shirt was probably back at the entrance at his room. None of it mattered anyway. He found over the years that unconsciously taking his clothing off was the only thing that had remained normal.

His hands fell upon the door and it creaked open noisily, but was soon engulfed by the loud welcome he received. Members raised their glasses, some already drinking alcohol, even if it was eleven in the morning. He raised his hand, smiling brightly and walking over towards his teammates table.

He took his usual spot, one that had been open on the left side so he could easily slide in without a wince. However, today of all days, his leg had to scream in pain. He winced, face turned away from Lucy who sat next to him. As he settled into his chair, he watched as Lucy shut her book and smiled brightly at him. "Good to see you're early, Gray."

He nodded and glanced around the table, "Where the hell is dumbass and Erza?"

Lucy sighed openly, her eyes running away from his as she gazed over the hall. "Erza went to go help Makarov with something, Natsu and Happy probably late." She met his gaze again and laughed slightly, "Erza said she would come join us later today. Which could be a good thing or bad, depending on the situation we find ourselves in later today."

Gray scoffed, reaching forward for the glass of water that had been in front of him. "It's not even an S-Class mission," Gray placed the glass against his lips, "I'm sure we'd be fine without her."

"Of course, we would," a male voice sounded behind him and Gray took a swig of his water before raising an eyebrow towards the direction of the annoying noise. Natsu stood next to him, his hands placed upon his hips and Happy saluting him as he sat at the edge of the table. "I bet we could be done with the job by tonight even."

"Natsu," Lucy rolled her eyes, "We have to go as a team."

"Ya flame brain," Gray smirked. "It's a team effort."

However, Natsu didn't remark, his eyes were trained on Gray and the Ice Mage cursed. "No," he stated quickly and shot Natsu a warning glare.

Lucy tapped her fingers against the table and stood up quickly, "I – uh…I'm going to go get us food!" She quickly left, like she always did when Natsu sent Gray that look.

"Don't you fucking say it asshole," Gray growled.

But he had to say it; he had to fucking say it.

"You had the nightmare again," Natsu snapped.

Not only that but to top off this already great morning, Natsu had to study him a little bit more.

"And you're leg hurts."

Gray groaned, of course – of course, he had to fucking recognize it. How the hell did he know? Wait he shouldn't answer that, he already knew. "Damn it," Gray ran a hand through his hair. "Why do you have to ask if you already know the answer?"

Natsu had ignored him; he was already too deep into the 'big brother' persona he acquired years ago. "It's been what? Three months since the last nightmare?"

"Three and two weeks, actually." Gray rolled his eyes and his hand dug into his pocket.

"What triggered it?" Natsu's hands tightened into fists and he looked towards the ground.

Even after six years, the bastard was still blaming himself. Gray took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips. He wanted to lie to Natsu, he really did – but damn those fucking puppy eyes. "I saw a guy in a tunic yesterday," and he lit his cig.

Natsu didn't say anything; he just looked at the ground and then moved to sit in from of Gray. The two sat quietly together and Happy, who was lost in the conversation, scratched his ear.

* * *

6 Years Ago

* * *

 _"You," Gray felt himself sob between gritted teeth, "you have to do something!"_

 _The old lady looked upward, her gaze gray and clouded. "I don't have to do anything!" She swung her cane forward, hitting Gray in the chest and left the edge digging into his chest. "You didn't complete the task I asked you to do."_

 _"He was too strong," Gray shot back, his hand slapping away the stick in irritation. "You didn't warn us about his power!"_

 _"That's because it's unpredictable!" She yelled back, face wrinkled with anger. However, Gray was burning with anger and he reached out pulling the woman in close. "Bring him back!" He shook her, and her eyes, unable to see, widened with fear. "Bring Natsu back! It was all my fault! He wasn't supposed to_ die _!" His voice cracked and Gray dropped the woman, feeling her scramble back as he dug his face into his hands. "He died – damn it all to fucking hell, Natsu is dead because of me!"_

 _Gray swallowed his anger and fear, letting sorrow wash over him as he shook in regret. Next to him Natsu laid still, eyes open but not seeing, neck at an odd angle and blood dried around his mouth._

 _Gray looked up, his eyes blood-shot and directed to the old woman. "I'll do anything," He said quickly, catching the female off guard. He inched forward and tried to earn back her attention. "Anything," he snapped, his voice desperate for an answer._

 _She looked up, eyebrow rising in wonder. "To bring him back?"_

* * *

 ** _Reviews_**

Anniegirl132- Yes he totally did, plus he was super tired from the fight. That guy! I hope I don't make him like my other villains (let me know if I do!) Also, thank you! Hopefully, this kept your attention!

Ryuu91- GOOD! I'm so happy to hear that, honestly, I was worried about this story, because it made sense in my head, but whenever I wrote it down I was like "What...?" And more about that whole Natsu Gray thing is coming next chapter

PokeTail- holy first off, I feel so bad for not updating your fic! I'm stuck, so keep your eyes out for a PM! Onto the story, thank you! And of course Gray's going to save him (or else there wouldn't be a story haha!)

FalynELF- AH THANK YOU! I love you so much! You've been there since the beginning and you're always so kind! Honestly, what did I do to deserve such nice reviewers! AND I do plan on writing a book in the future! Seriously, you are too kind!

Ted- (Love the name by the way) I know! Ugh, I really tried to display some type of fear and I guess I didn't write as much. Thank you and I'll try to rewrite that!

Just Me- YAY! Good! You are such a great reviewer, you know that? Thanks so much and my confidence can only go up from here!

Deboo(1)- I think both reviews are from you but I'll respond from them differently. Anyway, thank you so much!

Deboo(2)- Thank you so much! As for the story, it came up with a bunch of number and %, so I'll just tell you the updates for my other fics. People Who Change Our World and Taphophobia are currently on hold. I lost interest in them and right now have no plans on updating them (but that could change). State of Being Ill is being written right now, but I ran into writer's block, which is why this story was published. Other than that, thank you!

Firebolt-100- AH! Thank you! I hope it continues to be that way, because I have plans...oh do I have plans! *laughs evilly*

 **A/N:** The main differences would be that Natsu cares a lot more for Gray because of what has happened. You haven't seen all the changes or what happened (just to let you know). Let me know what you think and I would like to update sometime this week or weekend. Thanks so much! Oh and if you have any questions, feel free to ask away!

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	3. Sharing a Soul

**Summary:** The snow bubbled as a river of blood poured from where his leg was supposed to be. Beside him, Natsu laid lifeless, chest cold and unmoving. But Gray wasn't done yet, he had to fix this – he needed to fix this, even if that meant giving up his soul.

 **Word Count:** 1734

 **Warning:** cursing, graphic images, main character death, and spelling or grammar errors if I did not catch them.

 **Disclaimer:** I own no one. These poor babies would be dead every week if they were mine

 **A/N:** Since my last update, I became Voltron: Legendary Defender trash, I finally got my wisdom teeth out (my mom recorded me and shit is that stuff funny), someone stole my identity, I was able to transfer into a different college, and I got a new job. So ya, a lot has been on my plate but I was able to write this in between all of this craziness and hopefully it's as good as I think it is!

* * *

6 Years Ago

* * *

 _The woman walked forward awkwardly, her hand reaching out, shaking as she did so. The skin had sunken down, dark blue veins popped out against her aging features. "You agree to_ _the terms and conditions," the old woman held Gray's gaze. He nodded quickly and his hand unconsciously gripped against the bandages around his leg – the stump, whatever it was called, that didn't matter now. She raised an eyebrow and Gray swallowed._

 _"Of course, I understand," he snapped back impatiently. "Just bring him back - now."_

 _"Yes, yes," she muttered reaching out as she mumbled underneath her breath. "For this to work," she looked next to him to the dead mage, "You need to be completely calm. No outburst, no crying, no fear – just peace."_

 _"Calm," Gray repeated, "calm…ya, ya I can do calm." But he looked away from her small form and stuck his gaze onto the flooring. "Calm…" He wasn't calm, damn it, he was starting to freak out. What if this didn't work? Would Natsu be all right if this did? What the hell was he thinking? He's stupid; he needed to think things over before agreeing to such crazy things. Maybe he could jump out of this, think this over-_

 _A slap on his forehead drew him back. Gray looked up, his eyes unnaturally large and he swallowed. The woman glared, her eyes fierce and dangerous, "You have already agreed, young man." She reached forward, her hand already placed upon Natsu's motionless chest. "Now stay still."_

* * *

 _He opened his eyes to a blur of colors and a pulse that shook its way through his existence. His eyes would not focus on the blobs and he snapped his tongue heavily against the roof of his mouth. Oddly, as he laid there, the world looked bland beneath his gaze and held no amount of importance. Gray tried to remember why he had been suddenly knocked into oblivion, but his thoughts were stuck in a cloud of dark mush. Aside from his vision, his hearing quickly picked up rustling as if something was thrashing around. He tried to move his head in the direction of the loud bangs, but the movement caused a spasm of pain to flow through his system like rushing water._

 _Gray groaned, his eyes closing quickly. He tried to go back to sleep, anything to make this sort of pain vanish. However, sleep would have to wait as hands suddenly latched onto his shoulders and shook him. "Gray!"_

 _He whimpered silently as fingers dug into his skin, sinking – sinking so low that a scream ripped through his throat and he lost control. "Stop," he howled._

 _The hands instantly unlatched and drew back. The air around them warmed and the voice returned, "Gray – Gray!"_

 _The Ice Mage opened his eyes, the fuzziness of the world slowly stabilizing and Gray instantly knew who was leaning over him._

 _"Please," Natsu begged, his form slowly hardening into one shape. "Please stay awake."_

 _"You're alive," Gray muttered as a smile stretched across his features. He looked away from Natsu onto the ceiling that was a dark blob. "It worked," he muttered to himself and relief washed over the pain he had once felt._

 _Natsu frowned, his features turning into a look of panic and worry. "Gray," he reached forward, his hand lightly touching Gray's chest. "You're the one that was dying…" Gray paused for a second, his eyes closing a second later. Natsu seemed to sit back, a chair squeaking underneath his weight. "This was all my fault," the Fire Mage's voice was muffled and filled with grief. "If I hadn't…" The Ice Mage swallowed and then Gray blinked in the direction of Natsu. His friend had sat back, his right leg tapping against the ground and arm shaking as his hands cupped his face. "I'm so sorry, Gray." Natsu sunk deeper into himself, "If I hadn't jumped into the situation, you would still have your leg…"_

 _Right, Gray thought to himself, though his left leg hadn't hurt since the old woman started the weird ritual to bring Natsu back. He rolled his eyes, "Don't blame yourself flame-brain." Gray gazed around the space; they were still in the timeworn shack that the woman lived in. Speaking of the ancient runt, where was she?_

* * *

Present Day

* * *

Gray steadied his gaze as he glanced outside the moving train. The Ice Mage ignored his eyes that lightly stared back at him as he watched the trees rush by. Except he could only take so much of his sunken features before he turned away and back at his team. Natsu sat diagonal from him, his cheeks puffed out and eyes glassy. Lucy sat next to Gray, her eyes lit in bliss as she glanced across a sheet of paper. "You've looked over that thing for ages, Lucy," Gray muttered, his chin resting on his palm.

Lucy looked up, her eyes sparkling as Gray raised an eyebrow.

"Both of you don't understand," Lucy retorted happily. "We're going to one of the most popular parties in Fiore."

Happy, who had taken the seat in front of Gray raised his paw. "I bet they have a lot of fish there," and from the corner of the cat's mouth, drool peaked out.

"Call it what you want," Gray shrugged and glanced over towards Natsu. "We're just protecting a guy." With that, he stood and stepped towards the back of the train. He glanced back at Lucy, who frowned at his sudden movement. "Make sure the idiot doesn't puke everywhere," Gray stated before walking towards the caboose. Lucy had smiled but behind the false joy was sadness. Natsu moaned in response.

Gray shut the door behind him and felt the wind ruffle his hair as he dug for a cigarette. He quickly located the item and placed it between his lips and lit the end with a match.

 _"You smoke like a chimney," Cana had muttered as she took a swig of her drink._

 _Gray laughed bleakly, "and you drink like a fish."_

Gray placed the cig between his fingers as he looked down at his left leg. He tapped his shoe gently against the metal ground, "Hm." Nothing…Sometimes if he focused enough, a pain would come back. One that wasn't painful or annoying, but it came back as reminder. Other times there would be an itch, like on his knee or the bottom of his foot, a phantom desire of something that wasn't even there. There were times where he would take away the leg, trying to hobble on one foot, trying to strengthen himself in ways that seemed stupid to do so – but he had gotten so weak since that fucking day 6 years ago.

He was weak, plain and simple. Weak in ways many people wouldn't be able to truly understand before they experience it themselves. After so many years have passed, Gray was able to build back muscle he had lost when he was on bed rest and then some. However, his mental state never seemed to adjust to life. He still had terrors of that day – watching Natsu die, watching as his leg vanish, feeling the pain as his existence was ripped in two. Even with the pain and suffering, Gray wouldn't have done it any different. Natsu was someone who you couldn't live without. The dumbass had to live… Even if Gray had learned over the years of his importance to the guild, to Lucy, Erza, Juvia and everyone else – Natsu was still important. To Gray, he felt like a side character compared to the viscous fire-eater.

Things had changed in the past 6 years. People became more protective and jobs became stricter. Natsu and Gray weren't allowed on missions alone anymore. Erza had accompanied them on each assignment, and when Lucy joined she was had unknowingly been placed as their guardian until Erza arrived. It was annoying, to say the least, but Gray had found to ignore the overprotective rules.

If this was the punishment for saving Natsu, then so be it.

After what had happened, Gray changed slightly. He smoked, trying to push down the stress that accompanied him every day. He kept his distance from people and only smiled on occasions, but to his defend life just seemed so bland now and days.

Natsu had changed as well. He still kept his carefree and reckless nature, but he also grew up. His attention drew to Gray whenever they were in battle. The bastard had also dawned a "Big Brother" persona, that from time to time got on Gray's nerves.

Gray took a final inhale on his cigarette and flicked it onto the tracks as the train speed on. He watched the end of the cig toss and turn before coming to a stop and Gray reached into his pocket for another.

* * *

6 Years Ago

* * *

 _"I said anything," Gray swallowed thickly as he held the old woman's gaze._

 _She blinked once then turned towards Natsu. "There are some warnings about what you are asking for." She looked back, her thin lips drawn out into a grimace, "There are days when you can not stand, eat or sleep. Days, where your power is little to none and life, seems to-"_

 _"I don't give a damn," Gray snapped. He leaned forward, "Just bring him back!"_

 _The woman didn't answer for a while, holding onto Gray's stare as he shook with desire and redemption. "Very well…" She walked away from Gray and left the room. Her voice rose from the opposite room, "There are some terms and conditions, however."_

 _Gray clamped his jaw shut, "Yes, sure – whatever," he said between locked teeth._

 _The woman glanced out the door, "When my son shows his face again, you must kill him."_

 _Gray paused; "…sure," he found his voice to be low and unsure. He waited for a minute, "Is that all?"_

 _"Is that all?" The woman's laugh echoed throughout the house. "Yes, boy. Kill him and I will be happy."_

 _"Fine," Gray retorted. "But…if this works, you can't tell Natsu anything."_

 _"So be it," the woman walked out of the room. She held a large book in her arms, "Now for this to begin, you must focus on your friend here."_

 _Gray raised an eyebrow, "How does this work anyway."_

 _The woman scoffed, her eyes rolling as she placed the large book on the nightstand next to Natsu. "By sharing your soul, of course."_

* * *

 **A/N:** I may go into the whole "sharing Gray's soul" later in the story if needed. As for how it's done, I was thinking about how Meredy used her Sensory Link with Juvia and Gray. She was able to link their senses together and so I expanded upon that thought. I hope it's not out there, because when I thought of it I was like "HOT DAMN GIGGLES YOU THOUGHT OF SOMETHING SMART !" Of course, what comes with this magic, comes some unexpected outcomes, some have already been displayed. Anyway, thank you for reading chapter three and here's to a quicker update!

 _Anniegirl132-_ That is not a word but it needs to be! As for the more friendship thing, ya I want what happened in the first chapter to be a big life-changing thing for Natsu and Gray. It should be a very big thing in this story.

 _RansomeNone-_ First off, your username is gold! Thank you so much!

 _Nyan Cat-_ The title is "Shared Soul" which should make sense now. Thanks for the review!

 _Ryuu91-_ I feel like 6 years ago (before Lucy came into the picture) Natsu and Gray are unwise with themselves and their decisions. Hopefully, some questions were answered in this chapter!

 _Kori no_ Kobito- *gasp Oh me oh my! Hopefully, the way he did it makes sense, if not I may have to go back to the drawing board.

 _PokeTail-_ I got halfway through your fic and I suck again…I'm a terrible person, but I will try to update it soon! It's so difficult to get out of this writers block sinkhole!

 _DeltaGrayFraza-_ *giggles uncontrollably HAHAHA WHAAAAAAT NOOOO stawp it *blushes deeply no no no! As for your questions, no and no. I didn't want to have a mark on the outside, but if what I had planned calls for it, the tattoo or your idea may show up later

 _Lost-Remembrance-_ Here it is!

 _FalynELF-_ They do not and I just noticed that xD His leg isn't back, I guess I should have clarified that better. Hopefully, I was able to clear that up in this chapter

 _Mnemosyne's Elegy-_ I'm so freakin' happy you reviewed. You're like one of my favorite authors on this site! AH! As for Natsu and Gray's relationship, I totally agree. I didn't really think about it until you said something and you make a valid point! If anything in this chapter is confusing or fragmented let me know so I can fix it! Constructive criticism is always welcome. Thanks again for reviewing!

 _Deboo-_ AH! Good heheheh

 _Just Me-_ Ahh stawp it you're going to make me blush. I'm sorry for the late update, but I don't plan to stop writing anytime soon!

 _CrazyBlueOwl-_ Thank you so much, I'm always worried about my writing but I'm glad you enjoy it!

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